MeghanIsMe

I got Photoshop working again! I haven't wanted to post any pictures of the Big Boy locomotive that Erik and I chased until I could edit them to the best of my ability: it would be a disservice.

This is from the UP facility in West Chicago where Big Boy 4014 stayed for a few days for visitors.

Danae and I have settled into her parents' place in Hamilton, Ontario. They are very caring, friendly people who continually take us out for food or cook delicious dinners for us. Her dad walked Piper while we were out for the day with resonant, and her mother stocked lots of our favorite tasty things for breakfast and lunch. It's nice to be with them again.

Speaking of Resonant, it was fantastic to meet him in person for the first time! He treated the two of us to lunch in the revolving restaurant at the top of the CN Tower, where we talked about green energy and infrastructure and social justice and so many other things. We enjoyed his company so much that we ended up spending a lot of the afternoon and evening afterward sitting in a Starbucks with hot chocolate and continuing that conversation. We met around one and got on our train home around 8, so we must have talked for five or six hours. I'd say we got along pretty well!

As well as talking, we spent a little bit of time between the tower and the hot cocoa walking around downtown Toronto. We talked about going to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), but upon realizing it was closing soon we opted for the nearby aquarium instead. On our way there, though, I spotted some old railroad rolling stock at a nearby roundhouse. (Yes, an actual railroad roundhouse!) I'd seen it from above, but didn't realize it was so close; basically next door! We changed course and spent an hour or so walking around what we learned was called the John Street Roundhouse (in Roundhouse Park). I was boggled to find that something as large as a roundhouse still existed in the middle of as urbanized an area as Toronto. I was just as surprised to learn that it was still in use until the late 1980s, though that helps explain how it avoided the wrecking ball. I regret not having my camera with me, though Resonant took tons of photos of Danae and I. That was so nice of him! I'm used to rarely being in photos 'cause I'm always behind the lens. He has photos of us in the tower too.

Much like a few other LJ folks I've come to know in the past few years like basefinder, kishenehn, and restoman, Resonant would be a fantastic road trip partner. I could happily spend hours looking at industrial sites or infrastructure works and discussing them. If I could get him to some of the abandoned mining sites in the Keweenaw peninsula that I love so much, I think we could be happy for weeks. (There's so much wonderful info about the industrial past of the Keweenaw over here at The Copper Country Explorer if you're interested. And Basefinder might like the old Keweenaw Rocket Range that was out at the end of the peninsula.) That would be such a great trip!

I guess I got a bit distracted there. Anyway, the railroad museum didn't seem to be open. Or possibly wasn't even ready for visitors at all. There was a large empty building that might have been the museum, and there was a caboose that signage indicated was a temporary museum, but it was locked. Regardless, just walking around the first roundhouse I've ever seen in person, even in the snow, was a real treat.

Thanks so much, Resonant, for being a huge part of a wonderful day!